Exercise Indus Shield

{{Short description|Military exercise hosted by the Pakistan Air Force}}

{{Infobox recurring event

| name =

| native_name =مشق انڈس شیلڈ

| native_name_lang = Urdu

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| status = Active

| genre = Military exercise

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| venue = PAF Base Mushaf

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| country = {{PAK}}

| years_active = {{age|2023|10|6}}

| established = {{start date|2023}}

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| last = Indus Shield 2023

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| participants = Pakistan Air Force & allied air forces

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| organised = PAF Airpower Centre of Excellence

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Exercise Indus Shield is a large-scale international aerial warfare exercise held by the Airpower Centre of Excellence (ACE) in Sargodha, Pakistan. The aim of the exercise is to simulate various military tactics by enabling participating air powers to maximise their warfighting potential in air operations through synergistic employment of multi-domain capabilities in an integrated training environment.{{Cite web |url=https://thefrontierpost.com/paf-vision-and-exercise-indus-shield/ |title=PAF vision and exercise Indus Shield |website=The Frontier Post}}{{Cite press release |title=14 NATION AIR EXERCISE, INDUS SHIELD-2023, IN FULL SWING AT AN OPERATIONAL AIR BASE OF PAF |date=2023-10-15 |publisher=DGPR Pakistan Air Force |url=https://www.paf.gov.pk/public/press_release/uploaded/news/qdGSfwjtck7TAv2CEb6FZSYhlU2cxCqN0OWVKZ9L.pdf}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.nation.com.pk/16-Oct-2023/14-nation-air-exercise-indus-shield-2023-in-full-swing |title=14-nation air exercise Indus Shield-2023 in full swing |date=2023-10-16 |website=The Nation}}{{Cite web |url=https://wenewsenglish.pk/indus-shield-2023-pakistan-air-force-leads-mega-aerial-warfare-exercise-with-14-nations/ |title=Indus Shield 2023: Pakistan Air Force Leads Mega Aerial Warfare Exercise with 14 Nations |date=2023-10-15 |website=World Echo News}} It consists of a traditional "Blue force" vs. "Red force" scenario with participants engaging each other in simulated battles.{{Cite magazine |title=Indus Shield Forging The Future |date=2024-05-21 |magazine=Second To None |url=https://secondtonone.com.pk/e-magazines/ |last1=Maqsood |first1=Syed |issue=Winter 2023-2024 |pages=79–85 |last2=Jawad |first2=Tahir}}

Background

Exercise Indus Shield is organised by the PAF Airpower Centre of Excellence (ACE) at PAF Base Mushaf in Sargodha. It has hosted many other exercises including ACES Meet, Shaheen and Falcon Talon. ACE facilitates the participants of these exercises with simulating systems and by exposing them to battlefield environments in order to enhance decision making and strategic planning.{{Cite web |url=https://paffalcons.com/news/pafs-14-nation-multinational-air-exercise-indus-shield-2023-kicks-off-at-ace/ |title=PAF's 14 Nation Multinational Air Exercise Indus Shield 2023 Kicks Off at ACE |date=2023-10-08 |website=PAF Falcons}}

2023

The first Exercise Indus Shield was held from 6-25 October 2023 in which 14 countries participated. These included Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Oman, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Morocco, Uzbekistan, China and Hungary.{{Cite web |url=https://www.radio.gov.pk/09-10-2023/paf-multinational-exercise-indus-shield-2023-commences |title=PAF Multinational Exercise "Indus Shield-2023" commences |date=2023-10-09 |website=Radio Pakistan}} The Pakistani Air chief and Army chief along with the airforce chiefs of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Hungary also witnessed the execution of the wargames.{{Cite web |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2441919/coas-visits-paf-airbase-to-witness-indus-shield-2023-exercise#google_vignette |title=COAS visits PAF airbase to witness 'Indus Shield 2023' exercise |date=2023-10-19 |website=Express Tribune}}